Providence CEO leaving for position in California

After driving Providence Health & Services through a period of rapid expansion in Jackson County, Chief Executive Officer Tom Hanenburg is ready for a quantum leap.

Comment

By GREG STILES

MailTribune.com

By GREG STILES

Posted Feb. 16, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 16, 2013 at 2:15 AM

By GREG STILES

Posted Feb. 16, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 16, 2013 at 2:15 AM

» Social News

After driving Providence Health & Services through a period of rapid expansion in Jackson County, Chief Executive Officer Tom Hanenburg is ready for a quantum leap.

Hanenburg said Friday he will leave Medford in mid-March to become senior vice president and area manager for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Permanente in the Greater Southern Alameda County area.

Expansion was the norm during Hanenburg's seven-year stint with Providence Medford Medical Center, which now has a 168-bed, level-three trauma hospital supported by 12 primary and specialty clinics located throughout Jackson County. The local Providence system also operates seven outpatient physical therapy and occupational health clinics and four diagnostic imaging centers.

"What drove this decision is the span of control in a big market and the ability to work with a whole population's health," Hanenburg said.

Hanenburg will be going to a $48 billion organization and will be based south of Oakland, in cities such as San Leandro, Hayward and Fremont, in an area with 264,000 Kaiser Health Plan members.

"If you are looking at revenue, the operations in the Bay Area are 10 times those that are under my responsibility here and three times the size of Asante," Hanenburg said.

"You can't compare the 10,000 people here on the Providence Health Plan. That's the appeal, having responsibility for all the components of the health care system in a very large market. Serving the local community here has been a great ministry, but you are only dealing with acute care and not the other components of the health care system," he said.

During Hanenburg's tenure, Providence has seen market share growth, including the addition of cardiology, stroke and neurology care, opening of clinics in Eagle Point, Central Point and Phoenix, with Providence Medical Group doubling to 65 providers.

"All aspects of Providence's quality metrics have improved, and it is running well and having a dynamic impact," he said.

The timing was right, he said, because Providence's leadership and management staff have "exceptional ability to execute the strategy we have in place."

Prior to joining Providence, Hanenburg was chief operations officer at Duke University Hospital in Raleigh, N.C. But Hanenburg and his wife, Mary, have previously lived in the Bay Area.

"The decision to take on a new challenge was difficult for my family and me," Hanenburg said. "Southern Oregon has provided us great personal and professional growth, and great friends."

"Tom has been an outstanding leader, not only serving as chief executive in Medford for the past seven years but also for his significant leadership and work across the Oregon Region and with the system office," said Dave Underriner, chief operations office for the Oregon Region, in a statement.

Hanenburg will leave March 15. Plans are in place to provide interim leadership during the search for a new chief executive.

Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or business@mailtribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregMTBusiness, and read his blog at www.mailtribune.com/Economic Edge.